UWSP in the News

Buena Vista translates to "good view." A Wisconsin snowy owl bearing the Spanish name is poised to provide insights that conjure a more superlative moniker.

"Buena Vista" is a male snowy owl caught and released Dec. 23 on the grasslands near Plover. The bird was fixed with a GPS-GSM transmitter to allow researchers — and the public — to follow its movements.

The owl and another in New Jersey are the first of perhaps two dozen snowies researchers hope to outfit with the high-tech electronics this winter. The transmitters use cellphone technology to send a signal every 30 minutes.

The locations are picked up by a computer, allowing the birds to be tracked with extremely high precision and frequency.